Il Borgo Ritrovato - Albergo Diffuso

Francesca and Lucia run this lovely B&B in peaceful Montescaglioso, a nice place to wander and get a feel for everyday Italian life away from the tourist route. The rooms are spread across several carefully restored old buildings, as you'd expect from an ‘albergo diffuso’. They're clean, quiet, and comfortable. Breakfast is a really good buffet of local food and sweets the sisters prepare themselves. They're around to make coffee and have a chat, too. Their brother's pizzeria, Il Trapetto, is just down a narrow alley, inside a restored olive oil mill. Matera sits across the ravine.

In beautiful Montescaglioso, this is a lovely place run by a really charming family. Looking forward to coming back. Ciao.

Il Borgo Ritrovato's people were so friendly and helped us a lot with getting around on public transport. We felt at home there. The rooms were lovely and clean, and breakfast had delicious local specialties. Montescaglioso itself is a great town and a good base for seeing the area. It feels much more authentic and less touristy than the famous nearby destinations. Highly recommend!

Take a couple of hours to wander the old center and follow the city walls. There are quiet little streets with no tourists, plus amazing views from the hill over the surrounding area. You can see Puglia, Calabria, the sea, and the mountains. The town is definitely worth exploring. This cozy, clean hotel has been renovated recently, and the hosts gave us loads of attention and advice. They even treated us to their homemade cakes. Finding the place and maneuvering nearby can be tricky, but the signs on the walls along the streets worked much faster for us than Google Maps or Waze. The hosts can help with parking, though those narrow streets will test your driving skills. There's also an associated, newly opened pizzeria and restaurant in a restored old olive oil facility, with the old press as its centerpiece. The pizza and pasta were really good, the service was great, and prices were good. It's just 30 meters along the opposite street if you don't feel like walking far that evening.